The field of the invention relates generally to an electronic trip device, and more specifically, to methods and systems for testing of a residual current device (RCD).
Circuit breakers currently used to protect, for example, a residential or commercial environment, generally detect the presence of overcurrent conditions and release an operating mechanism to separate the circuit breaker contacts. A circuit breaker may also include ground fault detection capabilities, for example, by including an electronic trip device. An electronic trip device may also be referred to as an electronic trip control unit. A circuit breaker that disconnects a circuit when it detects that electric current is not balanced between conductors, for example between a line conductor and a neutral conductor, may be referred to as a residual current device (RCD). RCDs include, for example, ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs), ground fault interrupters (GFIs), appliance leakage current interrupters (ALCIs), residual-current circuit breakers with overload protection (RCBOs), and electronic residual-current circuit breakers with overload protection (eRCBOs).
Some known systems include an RCD test circuit. When a user initiates a test of the RCD using the test circuit, a leakage current greater than the trip threshold of the RCD is provided. If the RCD circuit is functioning properly, the RCD senses the created current imbalance and trips the circuit. As used herein, a test of an RCD circuit that includes tripping of the circuit is referred to as an active test of the RCD circuit.